Users of television systems and other media systems often search for a particular television program or other type of media content through an electronic program guide (EPG). As the number of television channels increases, along with the amount of available content, searching for specific content becomes increasingly difficult and time-consuming. Conventional EPGs, such as program guide 10 shown in FIG. 1, use a two-dimensional grid to display program content. The two-dimensional grid has a channel axis and a time axis. The channel axis is oriented vertically and the time axis is oriented horizontally. Multiple channels 12 are displayed along the channel axis and multiple time periods 14 are displayed along the time axis.
A user navigates along either axis to find the desired content. A user can scroll through the available channels using, for example, the up and down buttons on a remote control device. Similarly, the user can scroll through different time periods using left and right buttons on the remote control device. Program guide 10 also displays the date (show as “Today” in FIG. 1) for which program data is displayed.
The example of FIG. 1 may contain hundreds of different channels and hundreds of different programs over several days. Thus, the user has a very large two-dimensional grid to navigate when attempting to locate desired program. A significant portion of the programs contained in program guide 10 may not be of interest to the user. However, the user must navigate through these unwanted programs to find the desired program. This navigation can be time-consuming and frustrating to the user.